Drilling News


US Proposal Would Allow Oil and Gas Drillers to Delay Royalty Payments

May 28, 2020

The U.S. Department of Interior has proposed allowing oil and gas companies to delay royalty payments due to the impacts of the new coronavirus pandemic.According to the web site of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Interior's…

Yme Start-Up Moved for 2021 as COVID-19 Delays Maersk Inspirer Works

May 28, 2020

The article originally titled 'Yme Start-up Date Uncertain as COVID-19 Delays Maersk Inspirer Works' has been updated to include a statement by the Repsol spokesperson who has confirmed the start-up is now expected in 2021.Spanish oil firm Repsol…

Norway: OMV Gets NPD Nod for Hades Drilling

May 27, 2020

Austrian oil and gas firm OMV has been granted a permit for the drilling of the offshore well 6506/11-12 S in the Norwegian Sea.The company's Norwegian subsidiary OMV Norge will use the Island Innovator semi-submersible to drill the appraisal…

Petrofac Starts Rubie and Renee P&A Work

May 27, 2020

UK oilfield services firm Petrofac has kicked off the plugging and abandonment work on the Rubie and Renee fields in the North Sea using Awilco's WilPhoenix rig.Petrofac won the Rubie and Renee P&A contract with Hess in August 2019.Over the next three months…

NOIA: U.S. Offshore Drilling Ban Would Crush Jobs, Govt Revenues

May 26, 2020

A U.S. ban on new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which presidential hopeful Joe Biden promised to enact if elected, would lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses and billions in lost government revenue over 20 years, an offshore drilling industry group said on Tuesday…

BPC Hires Stena Drillship for Bahamas Drilling

May 26, 2020

Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) has signed an offshore drilling rig contract with Stena Drilling. BPC will use the drilling rig to drill its Perseverance #1 prospect offshore The Bahamas.As previously reported, Bahamas has postponed the Perseverance…

QP: North Field Works Going Full Steam Ahead

May 25, 2020

Qatar Petroleum's Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi in a webinar last week said the country was pressing ahead with the giant offshore North Field expansion despite the dire situation in the energy market where he feels it'll take 1-2 years for demand to…

ConocoPhillips to Use Rowan Norway Jack-Up for Ekofisk P&A

May 25, 2020

Oil company ConocoPhillips has been given permission to use the Rowan Norway jack-up unit at its Ekofisk field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.The consent was granted by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and relates to the plugging…

Shell Begins Drilling Saturn Block Offshore Brazil

May 21, 2020

Royal Dutch Shell has begun drilling the Saturn block in the Santos pre-salt basin, the company's Brazil chief said on Thursday, adding that Brazil faces hurdles to remain attractive in a low-price environment.Brazil's No. 2 oil producer after state-run Petroleo Brasileiro…

Borr in Talks with Lenders, Shipyards to Adjust Obligations. Eyes Rig Sales

May 21, 2020

Jack-up drilling company Borr Drilling has started talks with creditors and shipyards to defer certain payments and is looking to sell some modern drilling rigs to boost its liquidity. The company has said it has executed a company-wide cost…

National Oil Companies to Cut Over a Quarter of Exploration Budgets

May 20, 2020

National oil companies (NOCs) globally are estimated to cut exploration budgets by over a quarter on average in 2020, says energy intelligence group Wood Mackenzie.Woodmac said Wednesday its analysis was based on announcements and tracking well plans of 11 top spending NOC explorers…

Angola's Oil Exploration Evaporates

May 20, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has done in a handful of months what even a 27-year civil war did not: it has brought oil drilling to a halt in Angola, Africa's second-largest oil producer.The consequences could be grave for a poor country that relies…

Tough Time for Exploration, But There's Still a Business Case For It

May 20, 2020

Confidence had returned to global exploration with improved performance and the emergence of several new multi-billion barrel plays.  The confidence carried over into 2020 but has evaporated in the face of the Covid-19 crisis and the collapse in oil prices…

NEO Energy, Total Revise Terms of UK North Sea Deal

May 20, 2020

HitecVision's NEO Energy company has renegotiated the terms of the acquisition of Total's UK North Sea assets, first announced in July 2019.The original agreement stipulated that Petrogas NEO, a joint venture between Petrogas, the exploration…

COVID-19 Delays Total's South Africa Offshore Drilling Plans

May 19, 2020

French oil major Total has agreed with Odfjell Drilling to keep the Deepsea Stavanger offshore drilling rig idle for a while due to the COVID-19 situation.Odfjell Drilling's semi-submersible drilling unit has a contract with Total to drill this year in South Africa…

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